We report a 30-year-old woman who presented with intermittent gross hematuria and left flank pain，and CT revealed a left staghorn stones. The initial percutaneous nephrolithotomy（PCNL）left a 6 mm fragment，and both stone and urine cultures yielded extended-spectrum β-lactamase（ESBL）-producing Escherichia coli. Seven months later，the stone increased to 6 cm and urine culture revealed Proteus mirabilis. Endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery（ECIRS）achieved complete clearance. At 6-month follow-up，the patient remained asymptomatic，culture-negative，and stone-free. This case highlights that small residual fragments after PCNL may rapidly enlarge with secondary urease-producing infection，underscoring the need for early re-intervention and standard follow-up.

We report a 30-year-old woman who presented with intermittent gross hematuria and left flank pain，and CT revealed a left staghorn stones. The initial percutaneous nephrolithotomy（PCNL）left a 6 mm fragment，and both stone and urine cultures yielded extended-spectrum β-lactamase（ESBL）-producing Escherichia coli. Seven months later，the stone increased to 6 cm and urine culture revealed Proteus mirabilis. Endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery（ECIRS）achieved complete clearance. At 6-month follow-up，the patient remained asymptomatic，culture-negative，and stone-free. This case highlights that small residual fragments after PCNL may rapidly enlarge with secondary urease-producing infection，underscoring the need for early re-intervention and standard follow-up.

The ultrasound probe is the most important accessory in ultrasound equipment,which adopted the piezoelectric vibrator as its core component,and it can complete ultrasonic emission and receiving echoes.A deep understanding for the operational characteristics of the probe's array elements is important premise that user can accurately judge the running situation of the probe.This study employed pulse-echo technique to detect sensitivity and capacitance of the array elements of ultrasonic probe.The detected data of 60 probes at China-Japan Friendship Hospital were collected,and 75%of the 60 probes existed residual couplant,and 80%of them existed indentation or damage to the outer skin.The tested results of leakage current indicated that 1 probe(1.7%)existed excessively high leakage current.In test for array elements,2 probes(3.4%)displayed partial damage at array elements,and 6 probes(10.2%)were irreparably damaged.The preventive test for the diagnostic equipment with ultrasound is helpful to establish a quality control system for ultrasound,and to provide analysis materials with reliability in using diagnostic equipment with ultrasound,and to also provide decision-making basis for equipment departments and clinical department of using equipment in hospital.

The ultrasound probe is the most important accessory in ultrasound equipment,which adopted the piezoelectric vibrator as its core component,and it can complete ultrasonic emission and receiving echoes.A deep understanding for the operational characteristics of the probe's array elements is important premise that user can accurately judge the running situation of the probe.This study employed pulse-echo technique to detect sensitivity and capacitance of the array elements of ultrasonic probe.The detected data of 60 probes at China-Japan Friendship Hospital were collected,and 75%of the 60 probes existed residual couplant,and 80%of them existed indentation or damage to the outer skin.The tested results of leakage current indicated that 1 probe(1.7%)existed excessively high leakage current.In test for array elements,2 probes(3.4%)displayed partial damage at array elements,and 6 probes(10.2%)were irreparably damaged.The preventive test for the diagnostic equipment with ultrasound is helpful to establish a quality control system for ultrasound,and to provide analysis materials with reliability in using diagnostic equipment with ultrasound,and to also provide decision-making basis for equipment departments and clinical department of using equipment in hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting recovery of the facial function with the involvement of autophagy, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. METHODS: Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control, sham-operated, facial nerve injury (FNI), EA, EA+3-methyladenine (3-MA), and EA+GDNF antagonist groups using a random number table, with 12 rats in each group. An FNI rat model was established with facial nerve crushing method. EA intervention was conducted at Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6), Yifeng (SJ 17), and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 2 weeks. The Simone's 10-Point Scale was utilized to monitor the recovery of facial function. The histopathological evaluation of facial nerves was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The levels of Beclin-1, light chain 3 (LC3), and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Additionally, IHC was also used to detect the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR. RESULTS: The facial functional scores were significantly increased in the EA group than the FNI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE staining showed nerve axons and myelin sheaths, which were destroyed immediately after the injury, were recovered with EA treatment. The expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 were significantly elevated and the expression of P62 was markedly reduced in FNI rats (P<0.01); however, EA treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.01). Meanwhile, EA stimulation significantly increased the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR (P<0.01). After exogenous administration with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or GDNF antagonist, the repair effect of EA on facial function was attenuated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS EA could promote the recovery of facial function and repair the facial nerve damages in a rat model of FNI. EA may exert this neuroreparative effect through mediating the release of GDNF, activating the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, and further regulating the autophagy of facial nerves.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Electroacupuncture ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism* ; Facial Nerve Injuries/therapy* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Beclin-1 ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Autophagy ; Mammals/metabolism*

Objective:To evaluate the practical value of ultrasound, ultrasound new technologies (ultrasound elastography, contrast enhanced ultrasound) and computed tomography (CT) examination alone or the combination of both of the four in the clinical diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by meta-analysis system.Methods:This study screened relevant literature on ultrasound, new ultrasound technologies, and CT in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by searching Chinese and English databases from January 2006 to August 2023. Two scholars independently assessed the quality of the literatures and scored them using the QUADAS scale. Then, the diagnostic ratio of single and combined examinations was analyzed by Meta-Disc software, and the heterogeneity test and meta-analysis were performed to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic ratio, accuracy, and area under curve (AUC). Finally, the diagnostic efficacies of different diagnostic techniques and their combination in identifying lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer were assessed by calculating OR and P values by two-by-two comparisons. Results:Sixty-nine diagnostic studies totaling 30, 666 lesions were finally included. The meta-analysis study showed that contrast enhanced ultrasound had the highest sensitivity[0.83(0.77-0.87)], ultrasound specificity was the highest [0.84(0.79-0.88)], the highest AUC was for contrast enhanced ultrasound (0.90), and contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography had high accuracies (0.81, 0.80, respectively) both of them were higher than those of ultrasound (0.77) and CT (0.69). Contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive than CT, with statistically significant differences between them ( P<0.01); contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography had the highest accuracy, while ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive, with no statistically significant differences between them ( P>0.05), but the latter had the highest specificity [0.90(0.88-0.92)], which were statistically significantly different from each other ( P<0.05), ultrasound+ contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound+ ultrasound elastography had higher sensitivities than ultrasound+ CT, which were statistically different from each other ( P<0.05), and ultrasound+ CT had the lowest specificity [0.76(0.70-0.81)]. Conclusions:The diagnostic efficacy of thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis is highest with contrast enhanced ultrasound. The new ultrasound technique for diagnosing thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis has a higher diagnostic value than CT, and it can be used as a complementary examination to conventional ultrasound.When the two techniques are used in combination, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography has the highest accuracy, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound both have high sensitivity and specificity, and the diagnostic performance of both is higher than that of ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + CT, and in actual clinical practice when ultrasound elastography combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound is limited in the examination, ultrasound combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound can effectively serve as an alternative means to provide a good diagnostic support.

Objective:To evaluate the changes of peripapillary retinal and choroid thickness of tail-suspension rats in simulated weightless.Methods:Sixty rats were divided into 2 groups: control group (15 rats) and tail-suspension group (45 rats). The rats in tail-suspension group were tested by -30° tail suspension to simulate the effect of weightlessness for establishing model. The peripapillary retinal thickness of the rats were measured before and after 4- and 8-week tail suspension by enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). The choroid thickness of the rats were measured before and after 4-, 8-, 10-, and 12-week tail-suspension by EDI-OCT.Results:There was a significant difference in the peripapillary retinal thickness among the groups with different suspension time ( F=30.89, P<0.001), and the thickness showed a downward trend with the extension of the tail suspension time. After 8 weeks of tail-suspension, there was a significant difference in the peripapillary retinal thickness between the tail-suspension group and the control group ( t=5.73, P<0.001). After 4, 8, 10, and 12 weeks of tail-suspension, there were significant differences in the choroidal thickness of the rats between the tail-suspension group and the control group ( t=6.32, 12.78, 9.69, 6.39, all P<0.001); there was a significant difference in the choroidal thickness of the rats with different suspension time ( F=51.08, P<0.001). With the time of the tail suspension, the choroidal thickness and its changes compared with before tail suspension showed an upward trend, and reached peak after 8 weeks and then slightly decreased. Conclusions:With the extension of tail-suspension time, the changes of peripapillary retinal thickness of the tail-suspension rats generally show a downward trend, and the changes of choroidal thickness generally increased, and decreased slightly after reaching peak.

Objective:To evaluate the changes of peripapillary retinal and choroid thickness of tail-suspension rats in simulated weightless.Methods:Sixty rats were divided into 2 groups: control group (15 rats) and tail-suspension group (45 rats). The rats in tail-suspension group were tested by -30° tail suspension to simulate the effect of weightlessness for establishing model. The peripapillary retinal thickness of the rats were measured before and after 4- and 8-week tail suspension by enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). The choroid thickness of the rats were measured before and after 4-, 8-, 10-, and 12-week tail-suspension by EDI-OCT.Results:There was a significant difference in the peripapillary retinal thickness among the groups with different suspension time ( F=30.89, P<0.001), and the thickness showed a downward trend with the extension of the tail suspension time. After 8 weeks of tail-suspension, there was a significant difference in the peripapillary retinal thickness between the tail-suspension group and the control group ( t=5.73, P<0.001). After 4, 8, 10, and 12 weeks of tail-suspension, there were significant differences in the choroidal thickness of the rats between the tail-suspension group and the control group ( t=6.32, 12.78, 9.69, 6.39, all P<0.001); there was a significant difference in the choroidal thickness of the rats with different suspension time ( F=51.08, P<0.001). With the time of the tail suspension, the choroidal thickness and its changes compared with before tail suspension showed an upward trend, and reached peak after 8 weeks and then slightly decreased. Conclusions:With the extension of tail-suspension time, the changes of peripapillary retinal thickness of the tail-suspension rats generally show a downward trend, and the changes of choroidal thickness generally increased, and decreased slightly after reaching peak.

OBJECTIVE: To detect the differentially expressed inflammatory proteins in acute gouty arthritis (AGA) with protein chip. METHODS: The Raybiotech cytokine antibody chip was used to screen the proteomic expression in serum samples of 10 AGA patients and 10 healthy individuals. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were applied to determine the biological function annotation of differentially expressed proteins and the enrichment of signal pathways. ELISA method was used to verify the differential protein expression in 60 AGA patients and 60 healthy subjects. The ROC curve was employed to evaluate the diagnostic value of differential proteins in AGA patients. RESULTS: According to|log CONCLUSIONS Proteomics can be applied to identify the biomarkers of AGA, which may be used for risk prediction and diagnosis of AGA patients.
Arthritis, Gouty/diagnosis* ; Cytokines/genetics* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Protein Array Analysis ; Proteomics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlations of echocardiographic parameters in patients with gout. METHODS: The hospitalization data and medical records of patients with gout between January, 2012 and June, 2019 were retrieved from the database of Anhui Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the echocardiographic parameters and clinical laboratory test results of the inflammatory, immunological and metabolic indicators were analyzed. SPSS 22.0, SPSS Clementine 11.1 Aprior and other statistical software were used to determine the association rules and carry out correlation analysis, heat map analysis and multi-factor logistic regression analysis of the indicators. RESULTS: Heat map analysis showed that the expressions of EF and SV were the most significant, followed by AODd, LADs, LVDd and FS. Cluster analysis showed that AODd, EF, FS, LADs, LVDd, and SV were all in cluster 1, and IVSTd, LVPWTd, MPAD, Pmax, and RVDd were in cluster 2. Correlation analysis showed that in the 383 patients, EF was negatively correlated with LVDd ( < 0.05) and positively correlated with FS and SV ( < 0.05); AODd was positively correlated with IVSTd, LADs, LVDd, LVPWTd, RVDd, SV, and ESR ( < 0.05); FS was positively correlated with EF and SV ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with LVDd ( < 0.05);IVSTd was positively correlated with AODd, LADs, LVPWTd, and complement C4 ( < 0.05); LADs were positively correlated with AODd, IVSTd, MPAD, RVDd, and SV ( < 0.05); LVDd was positively correlated with AODd, IVSTd ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with LVDd and complement C3 ( < 0.05); MPAD and LADs, HDLC and TC were positively correlated ( < 0.05)and negatively correlated with Pmax ( < 0.05); Pmax was positively correlated with LVDd, RVDd and SV ( < 0.05)and negatively correlated with FS and MPAD ( < 0.05); RVDd was positively correlated with AODd, LADs, LVDd, Pmax, SV ( < 0.05); SV was positively correlated with AODd, EF, LADs, LVDd, Pmax, and RVDd ( < 0.05); complement C3 was positively correlated with complement C4 and CRP ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with LVPWTd ( < 0.05); complement C4 was positively correlated with IVSTd, complement C3, CRP, and ESR ( < 0.05); CRP was positively correlated with complement C3, complement C4, IgA, IgG ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with TC, HDLC, and TG ( < 0.05); TG was positively correlated with HDLC, IgM, and TC ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); HDLC was positively correlated with MPAD, HDLC and TC ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); IgA was positively correlated with CRP, IgG and IgM ( < 0.05); IgG was positively correlated with CRP, IgA and IgM ( < 0.05); IgM is positively correlated with TG, IgA, IgG, UA ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); UA was positively correlated with IgM ( < 0.05); ESR was positively correlated with AODd and complement C4 ( < 0.05); HCY was negatively correlated with RVDd ( < 0.05); TC was positively correlated with MPAD and TG ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05). The increase of Pmax was significantly associated with the increase of LDL-C, UA, complement C4, TG, HCY, HDL-C, IgG, ESR, CRP, and complement C3; the increase of SV was associated with the elevations of UA, LDL-C, complement C4, HDL-C, CRP, IgG, HCY, TC, ESR, TG, and complement C3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that FS was positively correlated with LDL-C ( < 0.05), Pmax was negatively correlated with IgM ( < 0.05), and SV was negatively correlated with ESR ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The changes of echocardiographic parameters in patients with gout are correlated with the increase in inflammation, immunity, and metabolic indexes. Patients with a history of smoking and drinking do not show obvious changes in cardiac function. The changes in metabolic indexes are risk factors for changes in echocardiographic parameters.
Echocardiography ; Gout ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors